So you have finally decided to start using supplements? There is nothing wrong with that. In fact, using chemicals to boost athletic performance has been done for nearly 100 years now! And don’t let anyone tell you that taking supplements is wrong – on the contrary, it is actually quite beneficial! A weight lifter cannot imagine his life without having to take supplements, especially amino acids! Not that taking amino acids is THAT effective in gaining muscle, but lacking said amino acids can cause some serious troubles when it comes to fast and effective recoveries.
Seeing as you are reading this article, I will assume that you haven’t done that much in terms of having an active, athletic lifestyle. If that is indeed the case, and you are an eager young (soon to be, but not yet) body-builder, then taking creatine – glutamine plus some protein and vitamins is the way to go. Both creatine and glutamine are naturally occurring amino acids. What is an amino acid you ask? Amino acids are important organic compounds, made up primarily of amine and carboxylic acid functional group, although different side-chains for different amino acids – depending on the amino acid in question. There are over 500 amino acids found today, but we will be looking at only the 4 out of 20 amino acids found in the standard genetic code (although creatine is not really an amino acid)
Creatine
This organic compound is biosynthesized by the liver and kidneys using three amino acids as base ingredients -L-arginine, glycine and L-methionine. But enough tech talk – the question was quite different to begin with. So how can creatine help you build muscle? Well, actually it doesn’t. What it does however is it promotes the energy synthesis inside the cell walls. This is quite important, especially if you are a newcomer and you have no idea what you are doing. Some “experts’ will suggest that you do a loading phase. That means gobbling up creatine like it was powdered sugar, because it supposedly ‘saturates’ your creatine storage, and an unsaturated creatine storage just won’t cut it! But the truth is that it actually will. Taking no more than 10 grams of creatine a day is more than enough – just remember to do it every day. It doesn’t matter when you take your creatine powder, just don’t drink coffee while you do.
Glutamine
This little nifty amino acid is a god send – at least that is what popular opinion postulates. Of course there are still some debates as to the effectiveness of glutamine alone in helping recovery for it does not produce any anabolic effects. Glutamine is responsible for making protein within the body, and it is quite a good anti-oxidant. Glutamine also promotes a process known as glycogenesis, and if you knew what that was you would also know that keeping your insulin in check is just as important as breathing. But like I said, both creatine and glutamine are not all that helpful, but if don’t want to take anything more effective I suggest you start with those and build yourself up from there.
Author Bio:
Connie loves to be in shape all the time. She know that sport means health. She works for http://www.perfectcleaning.org.uk/end-of-tenancy-cleaning-tulse-hill-sw2/ and has much time to train hard.
